Harry Potter and Snidget Seeking
by Lily Rose Potter
Summary: Walking into his sixth year, Harry finds complications on every side. Professional Quidditch, his relationship with Ginny, Professional Quidditch, new gifts that are popping up across the wizarding world, and a frightening disappearance of all wild magica


_(A/N: Our rating, for this story, will be R. For this time it is PG-13 in order for it to make it through the preliminary filtrations, so that fans on the look can find it. But it will go up. For now, however, the rating is appropriate.)_

Chapter 1

Nerves

As the train pulled to a stop, Ginny squeezed Harry's hand excitedly. Not that she wanted to leave him, but she hadn't seen her family since Christmas and couldn't wait to be with them again. As a result, they were some of the first few off the train.

"Kids!" came a voice that Harry knew very well, before they'd even had a chance to look around.

Mr. Weasley was running toward them, holding his hat on his head with one hand and looking frazzled.

"Dad what is it?" Ginny asked. Fred and George, who had gotten off the train a few compartments down, saw their frantic father and quickly joined the group.

"It's Lynn. She's in labor."

Action was immediate. Despite their earlier arguing, Ron kissed Hermione's cheek, then grabbed his trunk and his small owl Chucky and headed straight for the car. Fred and George grabbed not only their trunks, but between them snatched up Ginny's.

That left her just a moment, which she used to turn to Harry. She took both of his hands in hers, squeezed them softly, before standing up on her tip toes to plant a kiss on his lips.

Harry blushed scarlet, as Mr. Weasley's mouth dropped open in shock. As he'd guessed, though Mrs. Weasley probably knew of their relationship, Ginny's father had not.

"I'll make the game," she promised, then wasted no more time. Grabbing her father on the way, she set out after her brothers.

Which left Harry standing with Hermione.

"Oh," Hermione said after a moment. "There are my parents." She waved to let them know she had seen them and they didn't need to come any closer. "Is your uncle here?"

Harry, finally awakened out of the daze Ginny's kiss had caused, looked around. "No, he's not," he said darkly.

"Well, you can wait with us," she said, motioning for him to follow her to her parents.

"My uncle prides himself on always being on time. If he's not here then he won't be here. I'll fly home. Would you mind if I used your car to get my cloak on?"

"No," she said slowly, "but Harry, shouldn't you be saving your energy for the game?"

"She's right," came Sally's quite observation from under Harry's shirt. He'd requested that, while in Muggle public, she stay hidden, to avoid drawing unwanted attention.

"Why don't you let us drive you home?" Hermione asked, now that they were in hearing distance of her parents.

Harry was prevented from answering when Hermione was swept into two great big hugs.

"Is something wrong with your uncle?" Mrs. Granger asked him, after she'd finished greeting her daughter.

Harry grinned humorlessly. "Only that he's hoping that by not picking me up I won't come home."

"We'd be happy to take you home, Harry, if that's what you want."

He hesitated. "But I'm really out of your way, aren't I?"

Hermione got the gleam in her eye that meant she'd thought of something. "Mom?" she asked sweetly.

Mrs. Granger knew, and gave in. "Yes, it's fine."

"Perfect!" Hermione exclaimed.

"What?" Harry asked, already confused.

"Harry, why don't you come stay with us? At least until the Quidditch season starts?"

Harry blinked. "That is," Mrs. Granger added, "if you don't mind living like a Muggle."

Harry grinned, the first and worst three days of his summer suddenly turning around. Getting through how much he missed Ginny, and how nervous he was for the upcoming game, would be so much easier if Hermione was there to help him.

"I was raised as a Muggle," he said, by way of answer.

Mr. Granger, though still silent, gave him a fatherly pat on the shoulder and took his trunk along with Hermione's and led the way to the car. Harry was going to protest, but he was having a hard enough time juggling Hedwig's cage as it was. Mrs. Granger took Crookshanks from Hermione's arms, and cooed at the ugly cat about how much she missed it.

Getting in the car, Harry cast one wistful glance back at the train, remembering this exact time last year. Sally came out from under his shirt, and following his emotions, gave him a goofy grin. "It can't be," she taunted. "Not my best friend's sister."

"Can it, Sal," he hissed back at her, noticing out of the corner of his eye that his speaking Parseltongue had caused both of Hermione's parents too look back at him in shock, but turn around once they'd identified the source of the noise.

"So," Mrs. Granger said, turning in the passenger's seat. "What trouble did you manage to get into this year?"

Hermione set off on the tale, from the summer of last year to present, all with Mr. and Mrs. Granger's rapt attention. Harry was a little surprised how well they took everything. Yet, if Hermione made a yearly tradition of this, by this point they'd be used to it.

He'd never been to Hermione's house before, and he was rather disturbed by it's shocking resemblance to the Dursleys. There were subtle differences though. Like though the garden was pristine, the gardening tools had been left sitting in the yard. And the windows were left open, which meant the air conditioning wasn't always on in the summer. And the grass probably should have been cut yesterday, and probably wouldn't be until tomorrow. Those subtle differences made it seem less foreboding.

They set him up in the guest room that Ron had used last summer. He didn't unpack anything; he'd be living out of his trunk for most of the summer anyway. The first thing that he did was write a letter to the Catapults to tell them where he was and sent Hedwig with it.

Sally had already disappeared. She made a point to know the entire lay out of any building she intended to be in.

Hermione came in after a while, and sat down on the bed. "So, what are your plans this summer?"

"Lad will be here tomorrow," he said. "To go to practice. They said I'm to sleep in, so it won't be early. We won't practice long either. Just enough to stay fresh. The most important thing is that I don't wear myself out."

Hermione nodded, and Harry realized that it had been forever since the two of them had spent any time alone together. He flopped down on the bed beside her. "You'll have to tell you parents I'm sorry if I keep falling asleep at random intervals."

Hermione laughed and reached over to pat his head. "Why don't you take a nap. Dinner's not for a few hours. Don't feel bad," she insisted before he could protest. "I'll be sure to explain to them that traveling took a lot out of you."

He nodded gratefully, falling backwards onto the bed. By the time Hermione had left the room he was out like a light.

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Harry was almost embarrassed about the way he shoveled eggs into his mouth, but neither of the Grangers seemed surprised so Hermione probably had explained his appetite to them.

When the door bell rang he tried to jump up but Mrs. Granger instructed him to remain seated. A moment later Lad followed her into the kitchen. Harry did jump up this time, and run to his team mate with a huge hug. The last time he'd seen the Catapults he'd been half unconscious after their Quidditch game.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"I miss flying," Harry said honestly. He'd been spoiled by practicing either with the Catapults or the house team every weekend. To suddenly be bed ridden again was very frustrating.

"Well you _have_ to take it easy today, alright? Our game could go on for hours so you need to be as charged as you possibly can be."

Harry nodded, taking a minute to clean his plate and put it in the dishwasher. "It really sucks they consider Starenergy a stimulant. I'd have Neville make me another one and then I'd be fine.

Lad shook his head. "It takes a month to get out of your system. It's too late, and none of our games are a month apart."

"Still sucks," Harry finished, picking up his broom from the corner. "Thanks for breakfast," he said to the Grangers, who smiled at him.

He reached out for Lad's hands, and as the world melted, they were in the locker room at their team pitch. Brad was on him immediately, hoisting Harry in the air. He found himself sitting on Brad's shoulders, which implied he'd be spending more than just a few minutes up there because usually Brad just sat him on one shoulder. "Harry, the team has voted, and you're on strict orders not to walk anywhere today. You will be carried until you are flying."

Harry didn't protest, and accepted the Quidditch robe handed to him by Tiffany. "Quidditch news Harry. Our first game is against Pride of Portree. Tickets have been sold out for a month now. That's unusual so early in the season."

"Guess you guys managed to acquire some fans last year."

"Or people are anxious to see The Boy Who Lived play Quidditch," Tony added, earning him a smack in the back of the head from Tiffany and a glare from Chuck.

"Is Rose coming to see you play?" Lad asked, leaning backwards to look up at Harry.

Harry nodded with a grin. "As long as everything goes well with Lynn's baby. She was in labor yesterday and I haven't heard anything since. What about you guys? Who's coming to the game?"

"Abby will be there, and Natalie," Brad said from below Harry.

"Marie will be there," Lad said slyly. "But you won't see her."

The other two triplets groaned. "Lad, how long are you going to hide her from us?"

"I promise you'll see her on our wedding day."

"She must be horrible or something," Brad grumbled.

"The opposite," Chad said, picking up his broom and moving towards the door. "She's amazing, and Lad loves her. If she were horrible, he'd have no problem introducing us."

Lad clapped his brother on the back, as Chad had hit it right on the money, and they started out towards the pitch. Brad stood for a moment attempting to digest that.

"Wait, are you implying we'd try to steal her from you?" he called, grabbing Harry's knees so he didn't drop him and running after them. Harry called back at Tiffany to grab his broom for him.

"Not at all," Lad answered him once they reached the grass.

Brad's eyes narrowed. He slid Harry off his shoulders and onto the ground. "Because Chad's not any kind of threat and I love Abby."

"I resent that!" Chad hollered down from his position high in the air. His brothers ignored him.

"I'm not afraid you'll steal her."

"Then why?" Brad exclaimed, obviously upset.

The grin fell from Lad's face, as it was a joke no longer. "It has nothing to do with not trusting you, Brad."

"Explain," the red head said through clenched teeth. Harry took a few steps backwards, attempting to avoid the sibling quarrel.

"Look, Brad, who introduced you to Abby?"

"You did, but what does that-"

"And Liam was one of my closest friends before he met Chad."

Brad realized the point Lad was trying to make and crossed his arms. "Be serious. Like you ever had any interest in either of them."

"That's beside the point," Lad said patiently.

"Then what _is_ the point?"

"Brad, the point is neither of them gave me a second glance once they met either of you." Brad's mouth opened to protest but Lad cut him off. "I know. I know neither Abby nor Liam are good examples and I know the fear is irrational. Yet it remains, so humor me, alright?"

"Fine," Brad said reluctantly, and Harry let out an inaudible sigh as the tension left the pitch.

"Leave all fights off the field, boys," Tiffany said coming up behind them and handing Harry his broom.

"There was no fight," Lad insisted before Brad could defend himself.

Harry was in the air almost as soon as Tiffany handed him his broom. They didn't even let the snitch out because Tony was insistent that Harry would go into the dive and over tax himself. This was mostly just an opportunity to be on his broom fly a bit. He watched the triplets dominate the quaffle. He noticed that one advantage the triplets' size gave them was large hands. They never dropped the quaffle, or missed a pass. The only thing they would have to worry about in three days would be interceptions and stealing.

Tony and Tiffany, for a while, hit a single bludger between themselves. Eventually, though, they let both out and went to work. The bludgers were the only balls that didn't care if it was a game or a practice; they still tried to knock as many players off their brooms as possible.

"They have their work cut out for them," Chuck said to Harry in a lull, seeing him watch the two beaters.

"Why?"

"The Prides have two of the best beaters in the League."

"Oh," Harry said, biting his lip anxiously. The last thing he needed at the game was to be hit by a bludger.

Two hours later all five of Harry's team mates stopped and refused to practice until Harry agreed to go sit down. He took a seat at the top of the stands, and his team mates took turns sitting with him under the pretense of resting, but Harry knew better.

By the time Chad took him back to the Granger's, he was tired. Not the exhausted, run down, depleted feeling that meant he'd over done it, but sleepy. It was a good sign, because for the past month exhausted had always skipped right over sleepy. He managed to stay awake for dinner, (by this point he was ravenous) but after excusing himself he went straight to bed.

The next morning, Hermione shook him awake with a big grin on her face. "You have letters," she informed him before he could ask.

He sat up, knowing already he wouldn't be going to practice today. All he wanted was sleep. She dropped two letters on his lap.

He knew the first right away; Ginny's handwriting would be engrained in his memory until the day he died. As he opened it, Hermione moved a respectable distance away. He threw her a grin, grateful that she wasn't going to read what would probably be a love letter over his shoulder.

Ginny's letter was the expected, yet appreciated, stream of love and longing. The small bit of substance in it was enough to tell him that Lynn had had a girl, and her name was Mandy. She sent a picture with it, of a tiny sleeping baby that hardly moved but to tighten her little fist.

He folded the letter carefully, and laid it under his pillow. He was glad Hermione didn't comment, and didn't ask to read it.

The second letter he knew right away too, and pulled it open with a grin. It was from Sirius, with Heather and Remus sending their love but Sirius had written it. They were all going to be at the game in two days, and if Harry felt up to it, there was going to be an after party. The letter was short, and Sirius said nothing about the house, so Harry's curiosity was instantly perked. It was an obvious omission, as if he'd done it deliberately, not accidentally.

Somebody knocked at the door, and when Harry called out permission, Lad walked in. "Hey," he said, his voice hushed unconsciously when he saw Harry was still in bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Harry answered honestly. "I think I'll skip today." He didn't want to, but there was no way he would let his team suffer for him, simply because he wanted to get out and fly.

Lad nodded. "I assumed as much. In fact I almost didn't bother coming. But I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow."

Hermione smiled at the green haired man, and excused herself to allow them to talk alone.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"There's going to be a lot of pressure tomorrow, Harry, but I know you're no stranger to that." Harry nodded and waited for Lad to continue. "But there's another pressure besides it being your first game, and it's going to apply more than once."

His confusion only increasing, Harry motioned for Lad to sit down on the edge of his bed, due to the lack of chairs in the room.

"You probably won't have the same problem for a while yet, Harry, but for the rest of us, there are a lot of personal feuds that, despite our attempts to ignore them, invade the pitch."

"Like what?"

Lad smiled. "Well, the worst one will be when we play the Falmouth Falcons. I'm sure you've heard about what happened when we played them two years ago?"

Harry grinned and nodded. "Sam Elle called Tiff fat, didn't he? And she hospitalized him?"

"Yes, and we both know Tiffany holds a grudge, and Tony automatically steps in to try to help. But they're very, well, foul mouthed. They're easily our rival team."

Harry nodded, he'd been expecting that game to be particularly brutal, but they weren't scheduled to play the Falcon's for a while yet. "Are there others that are less historic?"

"You know that I introduced Chad and Brad to Liam and Abby, right? Well, I met them both through Quidditch. Liam was dating a member of the Prides when we met." He paused a moment to let Harry digest that.

"Oh," he said conclusively. "So Chad's got a sour spot for one to the team members?"

Lad nodded slowly. "One of the other Chasers. I can't say if it'll be worse this year or better. But there was definite animosity between them the last time we played. Later this summer, we'll be playing the Harpies. You should know the Seeker on their team once dated Tony during an off season, and she was a lot more serious about their relationship than he was."

Harry nodded; he knew Tony went through females like Neville did cauldrons.

"And Abby's ex fiancé is a beater on the Tornados team."

Harry felt his mouth drop open. "She was engaged to somebody else?"

Lad nodded. "He didn't treat her well, either. And not only does Brad want to kill him for what he did to her, but Anthony Gougus blames Brad for stealing his wife to be and marks him during the game for bludgers."

Harry knew how that felt; the Slytherin team always marked him during their games. Which had an amount of strategy to it but was probably just a personal attack.

"What about you?" Harry asked.

Lad smiled. "I met Marie by chance. She didn't even know I was on a team until I told her. The only problem we might ever have is if she supports a French team for the World Cup. So I don't have any personal grudges that you need to know about, and neither does Chuck."

Harry grinned. "It would be you two that didn't. It seems fitting."

Lad stood, and reached out to ruffle Harry's hair as if he were a child. "Get as much rest as you can, and we'll try to make tomorrow's game as short as possible. The press is going to be all over you, so try not to let it intimidate you, alright?"

Harry nodded once more; waving as Lad left the room. He shifted down in his bed, closing his eyes, intending to think on what he had just learned. He didn't realize he was falling asleep until several hours later.

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Ginny rushed down the steps as fast as her feet would carry her. Her mother was waiting in the kitchen with an arm extended, a warm bottle in her hand. Gratefully, she grabbed it and rushed back up the steps. She handed the bottle to Mary, who quieted instantly.

Lynn had spent hours in labor, and despite the successful birth of Mandy Weasley, had to remain in the hospital with her new born. Bill was constantly rushing between work and the hospital, not wanting to lose his job so soon after starting to work again. In the midst of it, Mary could be found staying with her grandparents and aunt for a while.

A little less than a year old now, Ginny was sorry she'd missed Mary growing. She was easily twice the size that Ginny remembered.

Lynn was set to come home today, Mandy with her. Charlie and Sandy were going to bring Alyson over, so her three nieces would all be in the same place for the first time ever.

Ginny had become the instant babysitter. Mrs. Molly had a wedding to plan, and spent most of her time completely engrossed in it. Penelope's parents, though fully willing to pay for the wedding as was custom, had little to no idea how to go about planning one. Mrs. Molly, having felt cheated out of her two oldest son's weddings, jumped on the chance to participate.

The date was set two days before school began again, so there was little time to plan. The reason they were rushing, Ginny had learned, was that Penelope too was expecting, due early December. She grinned to herself when Mary reached out to be held. Harry was right two years ago. They were going to become a clan.

She carried the girl down the steps to the family room, where a large play pen was awaiting occupants. She sat Mary down inside it.

She was a bundle of nerves. Tomorrow was the first game. She hadn't heard back from Harry yet but Hermione had written her. As it turned out, Harry was staying with Hermione until after the first game, which instantly made Ginny feel better. She told Ginny that Harry had been to practice once and otherwise had spent all his time sleeping and eating.

Ginny was glad he wasn't pushing it. She was terrified he wouldn't have the energy he needed tomorrow. Not for the game, she knew he'd do fine on the field, but for afterwards, for the press and chaos that was bound to ensue.

The door opening brought her out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see Charlie, with four month old Alyson held in front of him.

Ginny squealed like mad, rushing to the door and taking the child before saying a word to her brother or to Sandy, who hid behind him.

"Oh, Charlie, she's beautiful."

"She ought to be, she looks just like you."

Ginny threw him an amused smile. "I'm keeping her."

"Oh, you do that," Sandy said, stepping around Charlie to collapse into Mr. Weasley's chair. "All she did all night was cry."

Ginny giggled, looking down into the big blue eyes that stared up at her. Alyson made a baby noise, reaching out for Ginny's long red hair and fisting some of it.

Charlie heard a coo from the playpen, and went over to investigate. "Mary!" he said, picking up the girl up.

"Dada!" she said, causing Charlie to laugh.

"Bill is going to be so mad if you start calling me that."

Ginny grinned. "You have red hair like he does. She called Dad dada this morning. It was really funny."

Charlie lowered Mary back into the play pen, and Ginny followed with Alyson. They watched for a moment, anxious to see the girls interact with each other. But Alyson lay down as if she was going to sleep and Mary had just discovered her foot and found it fascinating.

"So how's my favorite sister?" Charlie asked, picking Ginny up and walking over to the chair, setting her down on his lap. Ginny instantly cuddled against him.

"She's proud that her brother is a daddy."

"Now that's not what I want to know. How are things going with that charming young man you're in love with."

"Charlie!" she exclaimed, her head snapping to look at Sandy but she was sound asleep in her father-in-law's chair. Ginny blushed. "Fine."

"How fine?" he asked, his eyebrow raising. "Because the last I heard you hadn't even told him how you felt."

"Well," Ginny said, "I did. And he returned my feelings, and that's it."

Charlie's second eyebrow joined the first. "Woah, so you're together now? Officially?"

Blushing still, Ginny nodded. She used to tell Charlie everything, but it was so hard to talk about Harry like this.

"And, has he kissed you yet?"

She couldn't help but smile happily. She loved it when Harry kissed her. "Lots," she answered.

Charlie squeezed her in a hard hug. "I'm so happy for you, Gin."

But talking of Harry and Harry's kisses, only made her miss him that much more. She couldn't wait for tomorrow, press, stress, and all.

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Hermione lay next to Harry on his bed, as they both used his text book to do part of their homework. Harry was nervous, and he'd needed something to distract him. Hermione had suggested homework, and Harry had agreed. He wouldn't have a lot of time this summer to spend on his studies, so using Hermione's help while he had a chance was probably a good idea

But his thoughts were drifting. Not to the game, like he'd expected, but to Ginny. Hermione was busy scribbling away, so Harry snuck his hand under the pillow and pulled out the letter he'd received earlier that day.

_I can't wait to see you tomorrow. I don't care who's around, I don't want to leave your arms once._

"Miss her already Harry?"

Harry closed the letter quickly, but Hermione wasn't trying to read it.

"Do you miss Ron?" he asked, by way of answer .

She smiled, folding her hands over the book and resting her chin on them. "If you promise not to tell him; yes, a little. I'm still angry with him, but even that seems pointless when he's not here to be angry at."

"You'll see him tomorrow. You'll be sitting with him at the game."

Hermione chuckled. "Harry, you know how Ron gets when you two go watch Quidditch?"

Harry nodded. Ron got a little excited, so what?

"Well, when you're the one doing the playing, and Ron watches, I'm the last thing he's thinking about. He gets even more excited, and won't take his eyes off the game."

"There's always the after party."

"True." Hermione picked up her quill, but didn't start writing. "Harry?"

"Hmm?" he asked; opening and refolding Ginny's letter.

"Are you in love with her?"

Harry paused in his nervous activity, taken momentarily by surprise. He'd never been asked that question before. "Yes," he answered slowly. "I think I am. At least, I wouldn't know how else to describe how I feel about her. Are you in love with Ron?"

Hermione shrugged. "There's not a person on this planet I hate more."

Harry grinned. "It's definitely love then."

They refocused on their homework. Harry realized that this was the first quality time he'd spent with Hermione in a long time. He found that he missed her. "Is Sally going to the game tomorrow?" she asked.

"She wants to. I figured she'd stay with Rose. But will you take her, in case I don't see Rose before the game starts?"

Hermione nodded. "No problem."

Harry felt his stomach flip with a sudden bout of nerves. "I'm not ready for this."

"You'll do fine," Hermione said instantly, as if she'd been waiting for his doubts. "Just think about flying. You're going flying tomorrow."

Harry reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it in gratitude and in fear. "Everybody will be watching."

"Everybody always watches, Harry. All the time, everywhere you go. You're used to it, you can do this just fine. Stop panicking."

He lay his head down on the book. It felt cool against his face. "I'm done with homework, let's give up."

She didn't argue, and began to close up the books. Harry took them from her, and extended a tiny bit of power to float them over to the desk. When he turned Hermione was watching him studiously.

"At school," she began to explain "you always use that fake wand, and it's so easy to forget that you're capable of that. It's hard to grasp how powerful you are."

Harry turned on his side so he was facing her. "I forget too."

"Don't know your own strength?"

He shook his head slightly. "Not just that. I mean, not once since last summer have I used either of my Animagus forms. I just, forget that I can. It's like, the person who can turn into a snake or a lion is Harry Potter, not Harry. And Harry forgets sometimes that he and Harry Potter are the same person."

Hermione blinked. "Harry, that was actually very profound."

He turned so his face was hidden in his arms, making his words muffled. "I think that's what I'm most nervous about tomorrow. Who's playing, Harry or Harry Potter?"

"Maybe it doesn't matter," Hermione answered, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Because both of them deserve the privilege. Because they're both good people, and we love both of them."

He lifted his head to look at her, locking her in his green gaze, and thinking through what she had just said.

"Maybe," he answered. "Still, I think Harry wants to play more, but the people want to watch Harry Potter play."

Hermione laughed, and reached out with one arm to hug Harry. "Well, I guess it's a good thing that they look so much alike!"

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Gwen padded down the hallway in bare feet, searching through her house for her mother. "Mom?" she called.

"In here!" came her mother's response from what should have served as the guest room but had slowly become the animals' room.

"What are you doing?" she asked, seeing her mother lay out on the made bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Well, I was thinking we should paint this ceiling. It's really rather ugly. Come look."

Gwen crawled onto the bed and snuggled against her mom before looking up. Instantly a cat was beside her. She knew by touch that it was Zosephine and scratched her under the chin.

"I can see what you mean."

"So I was just trying to decide if we should paint it white again, or go for something a little bolder."

"I don't think the cats care," said a voice from the door. Both Gwen and her mom looked over.

"Come on, Andy," Gwen said, looking back at the chipped ceiling. "Just look at it."

He came to sit next to them, but didn't look up. "Kathy, don't we have enough to worry about instead of the color or quality of the ceiling?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "You spoil all of our fun. It was just a joke." She reached up and looped an arm around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss.

"Please don't start that!" Gwen exclaimed, covering her eyes. "You'll have all school year to do that."

Andy pulled away from his wife, and grabbed Gwen by the wrists. She shouted, but in one smooth motion Andy had her pinned and her mother was tickling her. Through her squeals and squirms, she took a moment to appreciate how well they worked with each other.

Gwen shouted a threat to not do the cat litters, and the tickling stopped, though Andy kept her pinned by wrapping her in a hug. "How are we going to function around here without you?"

She rolled her eyes. "You'll have to hire somebody. Otherwise, who will do all the dirty work for the animals Mom? And Andy, who are you going to steal potions ingredients from to cook with?"

"I imagine that your mother will get her hands dirty, and my fellow Muggles will have to cope with the normal, none magical, ingredients at the restaurant for a while. I was referring more to the overwhelming amount that we will miss you."

She cringed, and reached up to poke Andy on the nose. "Don't be mushy, Andy. You'll make mom cry or something." She removed herself from his arms. She didn't really want to talk about leaving yet. "I'm gonna go find Lilac and go out for a bit."

"Be back by dark," Kathy warned.

"We will be."

_(A/N: Welcome to SS, I, Lily, will be your pilot. We hope that you enjoy your stay with us. Please be sure to fasten your seatbelts, we may experience turbulence at any time. Also, please be aware of the emergency exit at the top right. If you at any point feel uncomfortable during your lfight, please utilize this exit. Please be aware there may be unexpected delays at any time, and we will do our best to inform you of the circumstances of those delays. We are currently scheduled to land late July, though this is subject to change, as we have a history of being late. For more information on your trip, please browse through the information provided for you at the homepage link in Lily's profile. Below, you will find a form to fill out in order to comment on the quality of your flight. We strongly encourage the use of this form in order to help us to serve you better. Once again, I am Lily, and please enjoy your stay with us on SS.)_


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